baby #7

Addie and Seth decided to elope and marry in Champs Les Sims, followed by an extended honeymoon. She moved out with little fanfare, but we were all sad to see her go. I'll admit it, of course I was disappointed that she didn't want to have a large family wedding, yet I was thrilled she was so willing to buck tradition and follow her dreams.

They came to say goodbye on the way to the airport. Something wasn't quite right, and I pulled Adelaide into the kitchen to ask her, fearing it was something to do with Seth.

"No, no, not at all," she told me with a big smile. "I'm so excited for the future. Glad we're doing this traveling now. You know, before we settle down and start a family."

"Then what is it?" I asked. "I can tell you're worried about something."

"It's just... I kind of wonder if we're making a smart decision, career wise. I'm not worried about Seth--he'll be able to find a teaching job when we come back. I just don't know if I'm going to miss opportunities while we're gone."

"Oh, honey. It will be fine. This is the digital age. And when, not if, your career takes off, you might not have another chance to travel like this while you're young and carefree. Besides, you can still write music as you travel. Imagine the inspiration!"

She seemed to relax then, and soon it was time to say our farewells.

I couldn't mope for long, as August had his Scouts ceremony the next day, quickly followed by Aurelia and Arden's ballet recital.

And the next day, the triplets had a birthday.

Arden rolled the Brave trait.

August also rolled the Brave trait. I'm starting to see a pattern here, and wonder if these traits may come from their father, the fearless police officer.

Aurelia rolled the Eco-friendly trait, and immediately started to get her nose out of joint anytime one of us didn't eat every bite on our plate. Good times.

With three teens in the house, it was time to start hunting for my next victimbaby daddy. As luck would have it, Dallas called to invite me to a party.

"It'll be pretty laid back, but I thought you'd like to meet some of the new... uh, people, in town."

Right. People, huh? More like men. I didn't know what had inspired Dallas' change of heart, but a party sounded like a great place to start.

One of the gazillion Broke boys. I can never keep them straight.

Bob Newbie, resident vampire.

And Hank Georgeson, the new arrival, and my next target.

Hank seemed to like me as much as I liked him, and before long, he asked me back to his place. He didn't have to ask twice.

After getting clean together, if you know what I mean, Hank asked me to stay over.

My jaw dropped. "Didn't Dallas tell you anything about me? I'm pretty much a one night stand kind of girl. I don't do sleepovers." No point in sugarcoating it, really. Besides, my reputation had always preceded me before.

He stammered and stuttered, then got angry, and I left, feeling terrible despite the fact that just about every guy in town knew what I was after. The night didn't exactly end how I'd hoped. No chance we'd be friends now.

Dallas called the next day to ask if I'd had a good time. I could practically hear the smirk in his voice. And that's when I realized. He'd done it on purpose. This was his way of getting back at me. Apparently his own reputation had taken a hit after our little romance in the park that day.

* * *

The familiar queasiness never made an appearance, and I resigned myself to the fact that George would not become my next baby daddy.

I consoled myself by working on my garden, wondering who I could convince to help me out on my mission. It seemed most of the men in Riverview were old, already married, or wanted a more traditional family life.

I headed for City Hall to see if I could bribe or otherwise finagle the local voter list. I was desperate for another potential baby daddy, even if it meant I had to canvass the entire town to find one.

And then it happened. Outside City Hall, I developed a bump. Ha. A symptom free pregnancy? A first, but not exactly unwelcome, either.

So glad I hadn't turned off headline effects. This pic cracks me up.

Right as a fine specimen of the Sim form jogged past me. Hmmm. While I now no longer required a daddy for baby number seven, I would certainly need one for baby number eight!